E-commerce transaction and product information aggregation and processing

ABSTRACT

Embodiments include hardware and/or software for receiving an electronic receipt from a merchant that describes a transaction for a product by a purchaser and gathering product information from one or more sources such as the merchant, the product&#39;s manufacturer, the purchaser&#39;s bank, and/or an accessories dealer. Upon gathering the product information, the product information is associated with the transaction for the product on the electronic receipt and packaged in a standard, electronic format, an aggregated package, that is accessible and manageable by the purchaser&#39;s software, such as a personal finance manager (PFM) like Quicken™, Quickbooks™, Microsoft Money™, or the like. The aggregated package can then be sent to the purchaser via an email address supplied by the purchaser at the time of the purchaser or by the purchaser&#39;s bank while completing a funds transfer for the transaction.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/733,836, entitled “E-COMMERCE TRANSACTIONAGGREGATION AND PROCESSING”, filed Dec. 11, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No.7,519,547 the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entiretyfor all purposes.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention is in the field of e-commerce. More particularly,the present invention relates to methods, systems, and media toaggregate product information with electronic receipts into anaggregated package for the corresponding product and to process andmanage the aggregated package for, e.g., enhancing functionality andutility of a personal finance manager such as Quicken™.

BACKGROUND

Current business, processes for Point of Sale (POS) generate a“hard-copy receipt” or “electronic receipt” for the customer for everypurchase. This POS process also generates receipts for the customers,merchants, and banks that issue credit cards when the purchase is madewith a credit card. For example, a customer may purchase a product witha credit card from a merchant at the merchant's store or electronicallyvia the merchant's web site. The merchant will process the credit cardpayment, electronically communicating with the credit card company toverify that the credit card company is willing to pay the amount ofcurrency described by the merchant for the transaction. Once thetransaction is authorized, an approval code is provided to the merchantand the merchant completes the transaction by providing the customerwith a receipt that includes the product and some description toidentify the form of payment and the credit card utilized for payment.

In addition to providing a purchaser with the product and a receipt fora product, the corresponding manufacturer and merchant try to providesupplementary and/or complementary product information such aswarranties, warranty renewals, rebates, return policies, instructionmanuals, accessories, locations of repair centers, and the like.Moreover, the purchaser also wants to receive much of this productinformation so it can be retained and used at the purchaser'sconvenience.

When the transaction occurs at the merchant's physical storefront, themerchant typically provides a “hardcopy” receipt for the transaction,possibly tossing advertisements and brochures describing the merchant'sreturn policy, rebate policy, and warranty policy. Similarly, when thetransaction is completed via the merchant's on-line store, the merchantautomatically generates an email receipt that may include text thatdescribes warranties, return policies, and provides a uniform resourcelocator (URL) link to the on-line store. By supplying the information tothe purchaser at the time of the purchase, the merchant can provide thepurchaser with the most up to date information at the time of thepurchase.

The manufacturer, on the other hand, must provide the productinformation such as product manuals, rebates, repair center locations,and possibly product accessory catalogs by inserting the hardcopies inthe packaging for the product before the product is even shipped to themerchant, which could be months or years before the purchaser buys theproduct from the merchant. Further, because, the manufacturer deals withlarge quantities of the same product, information like product manualsmust be ordered in advance of packaging the product. In some cases,especially when considering products like software applications, theproduct may be updated or revised between the time that the productmanual is printed and when the product is packaged. Thus, manufacturersmay print inserts or fliers just before packaging the product to updateinformation in the full product manuals. Unfortunately, the informationsuch as manuals, rebates, and repair center locations, which, aresubject to change, may be outdated to some extent when the purchaserneeds to use them.

One solution for manufacturers is to include a URL in or on thepackaging that directs the customer to a web site that has the latestversion of, e.g., the product manual for use or download. In fact, themanufacturers may just provide a short, “getting started” manual insoftware products to help the purchaser to install the software. Thesoftware may then include links to instruction manuals, technicalassistance, and other useful information.

Banks that issue credit cards may offer transaction rejection policiesfor the purchaser for transactions in which the bank was utilized forpayment, allowing the purchaser to back out of transactions that werefraudulent, not authorized by the card holder, or that resulted inproducts that were defective or otherwise not fit for use. Thesepolicies may be included in the original agreement executed by thepurchaser or in an updated agreement mailed out to the purchaser at alater date.

Further, many banks form alliances with merchants and/or manufacturersthat allow the banks to offer discounts for purchases of relatedproducts such as accessories. As a result, banks tend to include productinformation to the purchaser in billing statements. Some informationincluded in the billing statements is triggered upon recognition bybanking software of the nature of the product or merchant that sold theproduct to the purchaser. For example, the purchaser may buy an itemfrom The Sharper Image™ and the bank may be able to offer discounts onproducts available to the purchaser from The Sharper Image™. Thus, thebank prints coupons or advertisements related to the transaction in thebilling statement.

Being bombarded with the product information from the merchants,manufacturers, and banks, in different formats and, at least with regardto the information from the bank, at different times, the purchaser mustbe very organized, filing the information in a manner that it will beaccessible when needed. In many situations, the purchaser may lose trackof the information or may even forget about certain policies receivedfrom the store, the bank, and/or the manufacturer at the time thepolicies are needed. For instance, the purchaser may purchase atelevision, and receive an in-store warranty for a year and amanufacturer's warranty for three years. The manufacturer's warranty maybe extendable within a few months of expiration and the purchaser,considering that a great offer, may factor that extendable warranty inas a basis for purchasing the particular manufacturer's television.However, three years later, the purchaser may forget about theextendable warranty and forget to file the paperwork to extend thewarranty because the television seems to be working great. A year later,after it's too late for the purchaser to extend the warranty, a part,previously under warranty, may fail, costing the purchaser significantlymore than the price of extending the warranty.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The problems identified above are in large part addressed by methods,systems, and media to aggregate and process product information. Oneembodiment provides a method for aggregating an e-commerce transaction.The method generally includes receiving an electronic receipt, theelectronic receipt describing a transaction to purchase a product by apurchaser from a merchant; gathering product information associated withthe transaction; and packaging the product information with theelectronic receipt to create an aggregated package.

Another embodiment provides a method for processing an aggregatedpackage for an e-commerce transaction. The method contemplates receivingthe aggregated package, wherein the aggregated package comprises anelectronic receipt for a transaction to purchase a product from amerchant by a purchaser and product information associated with theproduct; parsing the product information to store data of the productinformation in a database based upon a category associated with thedata; associating the data with the electronic receipt; and managing theproduct information to convey information related to the product to thepurchaser.

One embodiment provides an apparatus for aggregating an e-commercetransaction. The apparatus comprises a receipt processor. Responsive toreceiving an electronic receipt, which describes a transaction topurchase a product from a merchant by a purchaser, the receipt processorgathers product information associated with the transaction based uponthe electronic receipt. The receipt processor comprises an informationgatherer to retrieve the product information from a group of sourcescomprising the merchant, a bank associated with the purchaser, amanufacturer associated with the product, a manufacturer havingaccessories associated with the product, and a retailer havingaccessories associated with the product. The apparatus further comprisesa packager to package the product information with the electronicreceipt in response to receiving the product information, to create anaggregated package to transmit to the purchaser.

Further embodiments provide a personal finance manager for processing anaggregated package for an e-commerce transaction. The personal financemanager contemplates a package receiver to receive the aggregatedpackage, wherein the aggregated package, comprises an electronic receiptfor a transaction to purchase a product from a merchant by a purchaserand product information associated with the product; a database to storethe product information; a package parser coupled with the database toparse the product information to store data of the product informationin the database based upon a category associated with the data, and toassociate the data with the electronic receipt; and a productinformation manager coupled with the database to manage the data toconvey information related to the product to the purchaser.

In some of the embodiments above, the receipt processor comprises areceipt parser to parse the electronic receipt to identify the product.

Yet another embodiment provides a machine-accessible medium containinginstructions, which when executed by a machine, cause said machine toperform operations. The operations may involve receiving the aggregatedpackage, wherein the aggregated package comprises an electronic receiptfor a transaction to purchase a product from a merchant by a purchaserand product information associated with the product; parsing the productinformation to store data of the product information in a database basedupon a category associated with the data; and associating the data withthe electronic receipt.

A further embodiment provides a tangible machine-accessible mediumcontaining instructions, which when executed by a machine, cause saidmachine to perform operations. The operations comprise receiving, by atransaction aggregator, an electronic receipt from a merchant inresponse to a transaction between the merchant and the purchaser, theelectronic receipt describing the transaction to purchase at least aproduct by a purchaser. The operations further comprise gathering, bythe transaction aggregator, product information associated with thetransaction. Gathering product information comprises retrievin theproduct information from a group of sources comprising the merchant, abank associated with the purchaser, a manufacturer associated withtheproduct, a manufacturer having accessories associated with theproduct, and a retailer having accessories associated with the productin response to receiving the electronic receipt. The operations furthercomprise packaging, by the transaction aggregator, the productinformation with the electronic receipt to create an aggregated packageto transmit to the purchaser.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other embodiments will become apparent, upon reading the followingdetailed description and upon reference, to the accompanying drawings inwhich, like references may indicate similar elements:

FIG. 1 depicts an embodiment of a system including an aggregator incommunication with a merchant to aggregate product information fromdifferent sources and to provide the resulting aggregated package to thepurchaser for management and processing by a personal finance manager(PFM);

FIG. 2 depicts an embodiments of a transaction aggregator and anaggregated package processor to aggregate, process and manage productinformation in conjunction with an electronic receipt;

FIG. 3 depicts an example of a flow chart to generate an aggregatedpackage; and

FIG. 4 depicts an example of a flow chart to process an aggregatedpackage.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The following is a detailed description of example embodiments of theinvention depicted in the accompanying drawings. The example embodimentsare in such detail as to clearly communicate the invention. However, theamount of detail offered is not intended to limit the anticipatedvariations of embodiments, but on the contrary, the intention is tocover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling withinthe spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appendedclaims. The detailed descriptions below are designed to make suchembodiments obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Generally speaking, methods, systems, and media for aggregating andprocessing product information are contemplated. Embodiments includehardware and/or software for receiving an electronic receipt from amerchant that describes a transaction for a product by a purchaser andgathering product information from one or more sources such as themerchant, the product's manufacturer, the purchaser's bank, and/or anaccessories dealer. Upon gathering the product information, the productinformation is associated with the transaction for the product on theelectronic receipt and packaged in a standard, electronic format, anaggregated package, that is accessible and manageable by the purchaser'ssoftware, such as a personal finance manager (PFM) like Quicken™,Quickbooks™, Microsoft Money™, or the like. The aggregated package canthen be sent to the purchaser via an email address supplied by thepurchaser at the time of the purchaser or by the purchaser's bank whilecompleting a funds transfer for the transaction.

Once committed to a database of the purchaser's software, the purchasernot only knows where to access the information but may also perform,automatically if desired, advanced functions utilizing combinations ofthe data associated with the product. For example, the merchant fromwhom the purchaser intends to purchase the product may have formed anagreement with one or more sources to aggregate product information withreceipts for transactions. The manufacturer may supply the merchant withelectronic product information such as warranty information, a URL for awarranty renewal and instructions and data to interact with themanufacturer's registration web site. Then, after the purchaser buys theproduct from the merchant, the merchant may aggregate or instruct athird party to aggregate the product information from the manufacturerwith the electronic receipt generated for the transaction and to forwardthe aggregated package to the purchaser.

Upon receipt of the aggregated package, the purchaser's PFM may parsethe aggregated package, separating information for the transaction forthe product into respective databases for the PFM and associate the datawith the transaction. The PFM may then execute the instructions forproduct registration, gathering the serial number, the model number, andthe date of the purchase for the product, as needed, and transmit theregistration information to the manufacturer. In some cases, the date ofregistering may also be stored so the purchaser retains a record of theregistration of the product, which often allows the purchaser to takeadvantage of additional services like technical support for the product.If those additional services expire, the instruction from themanufacturer may also include instructions to retrieve or calculate theexpiration based upon the date of successful registration as well asinstructions to set up reminders for the purchaser, informing thepurchaser when such services will expire and how to contact themanufacturer or the manufacturer's agent to extend the services.

Turning now to the drawings, FIG. 1 depicts an embodiment of a system100 to aggregate, manage and process product information related to atransaction. More specifically, system 100 may include a purchaser 110,a merchant 140, an aggregator 150, an accessories dealer 158,purchaser's bank 160, and a manufacturer 170. For example, purchaser 110may include a customer and/or a computer that a customer uses topurchase a product from merchant 140 and to receive an aggregatedpackage from aggregator 150. In particular, purchaser 110 may transactwith merchant 140 over the Internet, purchasing a product from themerchant via the merchant's web site.

Purchaser 110 may have a personal finance manager 115 to track purchasesof products as well as product information such as warranties, rebates,manufacturers, accessories, and URLs therefor. For example, purchaser110 may buy a product from merchant 140 via the merchant's web site. Themerchant, having contracted with aggregator 150 to enhance receipts fromtransactions, provides the electronic receipt for the product. Basedupon information about the product provided in and/or with the receipt,aggregator 150 gathers information related to the product from varioussources such as merchant 140 (to the extent that the merchant maintainsproduct information that was not included with the electronic receipt),an accessories dealer 158, a manufacturer 170, and the purchaser's bank160.

Personal finance manager 115 may include a package parser 120, adatabase 125, and a product information manager 130. Package parser 120searches the aggregated package for inclusion of various types of dataas well as associations between the data and transactions itemized onthe electronic receipt, to consistently categorize and store the data indatabase 125. For instance, package parser 120 may locate a rebate formfor the product that was supplied by manufacturer 170 and associate therebate form not only with the serial number, model number, and purchasedate from the electronic receipt but also with the URL or email addressto which the rebate form must be transmitted to apply for the rebate. Insome embodiments, the purchaser 110 may decide to automate the filingfor rebates and personal finance manager 115 may accommodate by locatingand filing for rebates in response to receiving an aggregated package.

Product information manager 130 may manipulate and manage productinformation received in the aggregated package. More specifically,product information manager 130 may facilitate perusal of the productinformation related to, a transaction by providing an interface todisplay product information based upon associations between the productinformation and the electronic receipt. Further, product informationmanager 130 may set reminders, tasks, calendar events, and the likebased upon product information received in conjunction with anelectronic receipt for a transaction. For example, merchant 140 maysupply a limited warranty that lasts 90 days from the date of purchaseand the warranty may be extendable so long as the extension is purchasedprior to the expiration of the warranty. As a result, productinformation manager 130 may locate the purchase date and add 90 days todetermine when the original warranty is due to expire. Prior to theexpiration, personal finance manager 115 may notify the purchaser of thepending expiration, giving the purchaser 110 adequate notice and time torenew the warranty if that is desirable.

Merchant 140 represents the seller, the seller's point, of sale (POS)terminal, and computer systems or databases that the seller has madeavailable to the POS terminal for supplying the electronic receipt and,in some embodiments, product information to aggregator 150. Morespecifically, merchant 140 may include a product database 142, a receiptgenerator 144, rebates 146, and warranties 148. When purchaser 110brings a product to the cashier at a POS terminal in a store, theuniform product code (UPC) or a similar product code is scanned andcompared with entries in product database 142 to determine the modelnumber and manufacturer of the product. Then, the last few digits of theserial number or the full serial number may be entered into the POSterminal to select and/or identify the product. Alternatively, merchant140 may implement an enhanced product code that identifies themanufacturer, model number, and serial number of the product when theproduct is scanned at the POS terminal.

Product database 142 may also associate the product with any rebates 146and warranties 148 that merchant 140 intends to offer purchasers of theproduct. Receipt generator 144 receives the product information for eachproduct associated with the transaction between purchaser 110 andmerchant 140, as well as the payment information, and generates anelectronic receipt. In some embodiments, the electronic, receipt isgenerated upon verification of payment by the purchaser's bank 160. Inother embodiments, the electronic receipt is generated substantiallyconcurrently with verification of payment from purchaser 110. Forexample, merchant 140 may supply aggregator 150 with paymentinformation. Then, aggregator 150 may communicate with purchaser's bank160 or another party to verify the purchaser's credit worthiness or theavailability of funds for the transaction and, upon verification,receipt processor 152 may receive the electronic receipt from merchant140.

In such situations, aggregator 150 may also certify the authenticity ofthe electronic receipt. In particular, aggregator 150 can certify thatfunds have been transferred from purchaser's bank 160 to merchant 140for the products itemized in the electronic receipt by associating anencrypted module with the electronic receipt. The encrypted module mayinclude encoded information about the transaction and be sufficientlyunalterable such that the module is legally considered evidence of thefunds transfer for the transaction and acceptable to merchants andmanufacturers as proof of the purchase, advantageously reducing thehardship involved with mailing the UPC labels off the packaging of thecorresponding products for, e.g., rebates. In some embodiments, themanufacturer or merchant may rely on aggregator 150 to verify thecontent of the electronic receipt and that the encrypted module and/orelectronic receipt has not been tampered with.

The electronic receipt may be accompanied by product information such asrebates 146 and warranties 148 offered by the merchant and/or otherparties like manufacturers with which merchant 140 has establishedagreements to provide the information to purchaser 110. Receiptprocessor 152 then determines whether additional information should begathered. In particular, aggregator 150 may be an entity that is partof, associated with, or distinct from merchant 140. In situationswherein aggregator 150 is distinct from merchant 140, for instance,merchant 140 may contract with aggregator 150 for a level of serviceassociated with supplying product information to purchaser 110. At aminimum, aggregator 150 may receive additional product information frommerchant 140, packager 154 may consolidate and organize that informationinto an aggregated package for purchaser 110, and package transmitter156 may transmit the aggregated package to purchaser 110 in a formatthat is compatible with PFM 115.

On the other hand, aggregator 150 may gather product information frommultiple sources such as an accessories dealer 158, the purchaser's bank160, and manufacturer 170. For instance, aggregator 150 may developseparate contracts with each supplier of product information andselectively include the product information in the aggregated packagefor purchaser 110 based upon an agreement with merchant 140. Accessoriesdealer 158 may include a database to match the product involved in atransaction between purchaser 110 and merchant 140 with compatibleaccessories such as a carrying case, trackball, keyboard, monitor,software, and the like for a particular model of a laptop computer. Inseveral embodiments, model numbers and manufacturers of productsassociated with the transaction may be sent to the accessories dealer158 and accessories dealer 158 may even be able to recognizecombinations of purchases to suggest additional accessories that may berelevant. For example, a purchaser 110 may buy a photo printer, adesktop computer, a monitor, and photo-editing software, and accessoriesdealer 158 may determine that purchaser 110 is buying a new computerinstallation for work on graphics. In response, accessories dealer 158may identify one or more graphics acceleration cards that are compatiblewith the desktop computer and submit that information to aggregator 150for inclusion in the aggregated package.

In other situations, aggregator 150 may only supply selected modelnumbers from a transaction to a source of product information such asmanufacturer 170 based upon terms of the agreement between manufacturer170 and aggregator 150. For example, manufacturer 170 may only beinterested in supplying product information related to productsdeveloped by manufacturer 170. Thus, when purchaser 110 buys accountingsoftware, the manufacturer 170 of the accounting software may supplyproduct information to aggregator 150 including manuals 172, accessories174, rebates 176, and warranties 178.

Manuals 172 may include, for instance, a URL to download the latestinstruction manual for the accounting software. Accessories 174 mayinclude a URL to a web site that sells the latest accessories developedby manufacturer 170 such as software modules to improve efficiency whenapplying the accounting software to a specific business type, or tooffer additional forms for one or more different business types.

Rebates 176 may include rebate offers by manufacturer 170 and a rebateinterface for PFM 115 to apply for a rebate. More specifically, rebates176 may include data describing a rebate offer and, in some embodiments,code designed to operate with PFM 115 to set up reminders and tointerface with a web site associated with manufacturer 170 to apply forthe rebate. For example, a rebate may be offered for the purchase of acomputer and monitor on the same receipt. Aggregator 150 may certify theelectronic receipt for the transaction and transmit the aggregatedpackage to PFM 115. PFM 115, based, upon interactions with or priorinstructions from purchaser 110, may then communicate with manufacturer170 to apply for the rebate.

In some embodiments, particularly when aggregator 150 is involved withfunds verification or credit worthiness of purchaser 110, aggregator 150may interact with purchaser's bank 160 to obtain an electronic addressto deliver the aggregated package such as purchaser's email address 162.In several of these embodiments, aggregator 150 may also interact withthe purchaser's bank 160 to determine purchase protection policies suchas a warranty extension that the purchaser's bank offers when thepurchaser 110 buys a product, utilizing, e.g., a credit card issued bypurchaser's bank 160.

FIG. 2 depicts an embodiment of a system 200 to aggregate, process, andmanage product information in conjunction with an electronic receipt.System 200 includes hardware and software adapted to generate anaggregated package based upon an electronic receipt 205, to transmit theaggregated package to an aggregated package processor 250 via a localarea network and/or wide area network (LAN/WAN) 242, and to manage theproduct information for the purchaser.

Transaction aggregator 210 may aggregate product information associatedwith electronic receipt 205 in response to receiving electronic receipt205. In particular, transaction aggregator 210 includes receiptprocessor 220, packager 230, transaction authenticator 235, and packagetransmitter 240. Receipt processor 220 may receive the electronicreceipt 205 and, based upon the service level associated with therequestor of the aggregation and the amount of product informationprovided in conjunction with electronic receipt 205, determine theamount of information to gather and package with electronic receipt 205.For example, a merchant may contract with a third party, transactionaggregator 210 to provide purchasers with a level of service that isrequested by the purchaser at checkout. For instance, for an extra fewcents per product or an extra dollar, the merchant may request thatreceipt processor 220 provide all product information related torebates, warranties, purchase protection, electronic manuals,accessories, and URLs therefor. On the other hand, the purchaser maychoose to pay less and receive rebates and warranties from the merchantand manufacturer.

Receipt parser 222 searches through the electronic receipt 205 toidentify transactions or at least transactions subject to aggregation.More specifically, aggregation may only be offered for items above aminimum price or different levels of service may be offered dependentupon the nature of the product purchased in the transaction. Forexample, a phone cord may have a limited warranty against defects andthe merchant may offer a return policy that allows the purchaser to,return the phone cord within 30 days. Receipt parser 222 may identifythe transaction for the phone cord and submit the transaction directlyto packager 230, whereas, receipt parser 222, upon identifying, atransaction for a stereo, may instruct information gatherer 224 togather additional product information such as a photo of the stereo fromthe manufacturer and/or the purchaser's bank. In many of theseembodiments, receipt parser 222 distinguishes the transactions anddetermines how to handle the transaction based upon indications includedby the merchant. In other embodiments, receipt parser 222 may comparethe UPC number of the product against a product database or a databasesupplied by the corresponding merchant to determine whether and fromwhich electronic addresses, information should be aggregated withelectronic receipt 205.

Information gatherer 224 gathers product information from differentsources to generate an aggregated package for a transaction. Inparticular, information gatherer 224 includes a manufacturer applicationprogram interface (API) 225, bank API 226, retailer API 227, andlanguage 228. Manufacturer API 225 may interact with a manufacturer'sserver via an Internet protocol (IP), address to gather productinformation about a product that is the subject of a transaction onelectronic receipt 205. Manufacturer API 225 may, for instance, interactwith a web site associated with the manufacturer to determineaccessories associated with the product, rebates offered by themanufacturer for the product, warranties and warranty renewals offeredby the manufacturer, and the like. In some embodiments, the manufacturermay even offer code or instructions in a standard format or differentcode or instructions for popular PFM formats, which, when loaded byaggregated package processor 250, instruct aggregated package processor250 to set up reminders to renew a warranty, register for a rebate, orthe like.

Bank API 226 may interact with a purchaser's bank or other banks relatedto the transaction, the product, the merchant, the purchaser, ortransaction aggregator 210, to aggregate product information withelectronic receipt 205 for the purchaser. For instance, the purchaser'sbank may have a credit card, that offers loyalty points for an airlineand that information may be aggregated into the aggregated package foruse when the purchaser buys a ticket for that airline or for anotherairline.

Retailer API 227 may interact with a merchant's server that isassociated with the transaction, or another retailer that offers thesame product, accessories for the product or other related items. Forinstance, transaction aggregator 210 may offer the aggregation servicefor free to merchants and pay for the service by includingadvertisements for similar retailers or retailers associated withaccessories for the product. By charging the accessories retailer forthe advertisement, transaction aggregator 210 can offer the aggregationservice to more merchants. On the other hand, the corresponding merchantmay pay to prevent inclusion of advertisements from other retailers forproducts that the merchant offers.

Language 228 may include a software module designed to gatherinformation for the aggregated package in a language based upon alanguage preference selected by a purchaser at the time of purchase, thepurchaser's bank, or the merchant. For instance, when the purchaser, anEnglish speaking person, transacts with a merchant in Japan, thepurchaser may not be able to speak Japanese and, in any case, may notwant a receipt or information such as an instruction manual in Japanese.Further, if no language is selected, language 228 may default tocollection of a standard set of languages such as English, Spanish,German, French, Japanese, and Russian. In other embodiments, the defaultlanguage, or languages may be selected based upon the location of thepurchaser, the purchaser's bank, and/or the merchant.

Packager 230 may prepare the aggregated package with the electronicreceipt 205 and the product information associated with transactions ofthe electronic receipt 205. In particular, packager 230 may format theaggregated package in a standard format that is accessible to anaggregated package processor 250. For instance, aggregated packageprocessor 250 may be able to convert the contents of the aggregatedpackage into a format that is parsable or may be able to parse thestandard format. In other embodiments, packager 230 may interact withaggregated package processor 250 via package transmitter 240 todetermine an appropriate format for the aggregated package and packagethe product information accordingly.

Some embodiments include transaction authenticator 235. Transactionauthenticator 235 may generate an encrypted module to authenticate orcertify the trustworthiness of an electronic receipt 205 that is createdfor a purchaser. Transaction authenticator 235 may encrypt electronicreceipt 205, a hash of electronic receipt 205, an encoded hash ofelectronic receipt 205, and/or the like to gain the trust ofmanufacturers and even courts of law regarding the trustworthiness ofthe content of electronic receipt 205 so the purchaser may presentelectronic receipt 205 and the encrypted module as evidence of atransaction and the corresponding funds transfer. For example, uponreceipt of electronic receipt 205, electronic receipt 205 is encryptedand cannot be modified by the purchaser, thus ensuring its authenticityfor such purposes as proof of purchase and tax deductions. The purchasercan then control where electronic receipt 205 is stored and when it canbe accessed.

Package transmitter 240 may transmit the aggregated package to anaddress associated with the purchaser and, in several embodiments,interact with the purchaser's aggregated package processor 250 such as aPFM or similar software to format the aggregated package in a formatthat can be utilized by aggregated package processor 250 and, thus, thecorresponding purchaser.

Package transmitter 240 may transmit the aggregated package to thepurchaser via LAN/WAN 242. LAN/WAN 242 is a network connection to coupletransaction aggregator 210 with aggregated package processor 250 totransmit an aggregated package based upon the electronic receipt 205. Insome embodiments, LAN/WAN 242 may include a network in an office coupledvia Ethernet, optical media like OptiConnect, or the like. In severalembodiments, LAN/WAN 242 also couples with the Internet via a cablemodem, a digital subscriber line (DSL) a T1 line, a T3 line, or thelike. In further embodiments, LAN/WAN 242 may include a network oftemporary connections such as connections via a telephone system.

Aggregated package processor 250 may process and manage data, andpossibly code, included in an aggregated package. In particular,aggregated package processor 250 includes a package receiver 252, apackage parser 254, a product information manager 260, and a database270. Package parser 254 may search through the aggregated package toread and store product information and information of electronic receipt205 in different categories of the database 270 or even in differentcategories of databases. In some embodiments, an information exchangebetween package transmitter 240 and aggregated package processor 250informs transaction aggregator 210 of the format that can bed parsed byaggregated package processor 250. For example, package parser 254 maystore electronic receipt 205 in electronic receipt 272, organizing thetransaction data associated with electronic receipt 205 into categoriesincluding serial/model number 273, price 274, payment 275, and date 276.Then, package parser 254 may parse the corresponding productinformation, associating the product information with electronic receipt272, such as warranties 280, URLs 282, accessories 284, rebates 286, andmanuals 288, and the details of the transaction from the electronicreceipt 205.

Product information manager 260 may utilize the data and code stored indatabase 270 to inform the purchaser of deadlines, facilitate,completion of rebate applications and to facilitate registration ofproducts. More specifically, product information manager 260 may includelogic such as warranty timer 262, warranty renewal 264, rebate manager266, registration manager 268, and language translator 269. Warrantytimer 262 may review warranty information parsed from the aggregatedpackage and stored in database 270. For example, when a transaction isassociated with a warranty, a timer event may be instituted to informthe purchaser when that warranty is about to expire.

Similarly, warranty renewal 264 may recognize data related to renewing awarranty for a product through a manufacturer of the product, themerchant that sold the product to the purchaser, or through a thirdparty that offers, e.g., product insurance for the product. Warrantyrenewal 264 may set one or more dates as a trigger(s) for thenotification, providing the purchaser with sufficient time to effect therenewal. In some embodiments, warranty renewal 264 can utilize code orinstructions and an IP address included with the renewal to interfacewith the entity offering the renewal and supply information to apply forthe renewal from database 270 such as the serial/model number 273 andthe date 276 of the transaction.

Rebate manager 266 may track rebates 286 for products described intransactions associated with electronic receipt 272. Rebate manager 266may automatically apply for a rebate if the purchaser has setpreferences indicating a desire for automatic application for rebates.This is particularly true in instances wherein an encrypted module isincluded by transaction authenticator 235 and utilized as proof of thetransaction. For example, rebate manager 266 may advantageously transmitthe encrypted module along with the electronics receipt to thecorresponding manufacturer or merchant, and/or to transaction aggregator210 as a proof of the purchase rather than physically mailing the UPCincluded on the package of the product.

Otherwise, rebate manager 266 may set reminders for various rebates toremind the purchaser of the availability of the rebate. For example, thepurchaser may buy a computer. A rebate associated with the purchase ofthe computer may effectively provide a discount for the purchase of asoftware application. When the purchaser does not purchase the softwareapplication at the time the computer is purchased, rebate manager 266may notify the purchaser that the rebate is available for the softwareand offer to direct the purchaser to a web site that sells the software(if such a URL is included in the aggregated package). If the purchaserdoes not purchase the software at that time, rebate manager 266 may setanother reminder for a later date.

Registration manager 268 may track registrations for products, gatherdata to file registrations, and register the products automatically ifthe purchaser so desires. For example, upon receiving an aggregatedpackage, packager parser 254 locates data related to registering theproduct such as the date 276 of the transaction and the serial/modelnumber 273, and submits the data in a format and to a URL indicated bythe instructions or code received with the registration.

Language translator 269 may, based upon a preference set by thepurchaser, translate the contents of aggregated packages. In particular,an aggregated package processor purchased in Sweden may, by default,translate the language of the contents of aggregated packages to Swedishupon receipt if the contents are not already written in Swedish.However, the purchaser may prefer to receive all aggregated packagecontents in English so language translator 269 may translate thecontents of the aggregated package to English. In some embodiments,language translator 269 may include translation software. In furtherembodiments, language translator 269 may interact with a languagetranslation API via LAN/WAN 242 to translate the contents of theaggregated package.

In further embodiments, transaction aggregator 210 and aggregatedpackage processor 250 may be included in the same software package. Insome of these embodiments, the software package may be adapted to resideon the purchaser's computer. In other embodiments, the software packagemay be adapted to reside, on a server that is accessible to thepurchaser, e.g., under a service agreement.

Referring now to FIG. 3, there is shown an example of a flow chart 300for aggregating product information. Flow chart 300 begins withreceiving an electronic receipt (element 310). In particular, a merchantmay generate an electronic receipt, such as a receipt typicallyforwarded to a purchaser by email, using extensible markup language(XML) tags to identify transactions as well as attributes of eachtransaction like the price of the products, the model numbers and serialnumbers, the manufacturers of the products, and similar information. Themerchant may then transmit that electronic receipt to an aggregator togenerate an aggregated package. In some embodiments, the aggregator maybe a server within the merchant's network. In other embodiments, themerchant may communicate with the server via a WAN like the Internet.

After receiving the electronic receipt, the aggregator parses thereceipt for information to determine transactions for products (element315) as opposed to tax items and possibly items for which no additionalproduct information will be gathered. For example, the electronicreceipt may include a transaction for a printer. The printer may beidentified by a serial number and associated with its manufacturer(element 320).

The aggregator may then retrieve the product information from a varietyof sources. The aggregator may retrieve product information from themerchant that sold the product (element 325) such as rebates andwarranties offered by the merchant and product information from themanufacturer of the product (element 330) such as a URL for the manual,a URL for additional fonts, a URL for updates of driver software, andalso rebates and warranty information for the product. Further, theaggregator may retrieve accessory information from an accessory dealer(element 340), third party warranty or warranty extension information(element 345), and purchase protection information from the purchaser'sbank (element 350). For example, when the purchaser buys a camera fromthe merchant, the aggregator may retrieve sales information forvideotapes, memory modules, or mini compact discs, depending upon thecamera's serial number or model number. In some of these embodiments,the aggregator may supply, e.g., the model number to a retailer ofaccessories, which has an agreement in place with the aggregator, andthe retailer may match the model number with accessories sold by theretailer. The retailer may then return a list of those accessories, or aURL to reach an on-line store that sells those accessories, to theaggregator to be included within the aggregated package for thepurchaser.

After the product information for a product is gathered, additionalproducts from the electronic receipt are identified (element 355) andthe product information associated with each product is gathered(element 360). The product information for all the products or forselected products on the electronic receipt may then be packaged withthe electronic receipt in an aggregated package and certified (element360) so that the electronic receipt can be used as a proof of purchasefor the corresponding products. The aggregator may then transmit theaggregated package to the purchaser (element 365).

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is shown an example of a flow chart 400for processing and managing product information. Flow chart 400 beginsupon receipt of an aggregated package (element 410) from an aggregatorsuch as transaction aggregator 210 in FIG. 2. In particular, thepurchaser may receive an email having an email attachment that is anaggregated package for a transaction that recently transpired. In somesituations, rather than receiving an email, the aggregator may initiatecommunication with an aggregated package processor on the purchaser'scomputer, or the purchaser may access a web site associated with theaggregator to download the aggregated package.

Upon receipt of the aggregated package, the package is parsed (element415) to identify information about transactions, encrypted modules orother types, of certifications, and product information associated withproducts involved with the transactions. The data can then be stored ina database (element 420) and cross-linked with the electronic receipt(element 422) to facilitate management of the product information by thepurchaser.

Management of the product information may involve manipulation of theproduct information and the e-receipt to display reports (element 425)such as tax reports, asset reports, and other financial or inventoryreports, as well as to file product registrations and renew warranties.For example, when the product is received and the product has not beenregistered (element 430), the purchaser may want to register theproduct. The aggregated package processor, such as a PFM, may parse theelectronic receipt, or e-receipt, to determine the serial number andmanufacturer for the product (element 435). The PFM may further parsethe aggregated package to notify the purchaser's insurance company aboutthe acquisition of the purchased items in order to effect insurancecoverage for the purchased items. The product information may then beparsed to determine the URL associated with registration of the product(element 440) as well as API parameters for registering the product(element 445) at the web site identified by the URL. The API parametersmay, for instance, describe an order of transmission for theregistration information and/or a format for submission of theinformation. On the other hand, the URL may be retrieved from a look-uptable based upon identification of the manufacturer (element 440). Withthe URL and product information, the product may be registered (element450).

After the product of a transaction is registered, management of theproduct information may involve monitoring deadlines such as warrantyexpirations, warranty renewals, and rebate offers (element 455) tonotify the purchaser in time for the purchaser to take advantage of suchoffers. More specifically, when a deadline is about to expire (element460), management of the product information may involve notifying thepurchaser with a request for approval to renew the warranty or apply forthe rebate (element 465). If the purchaser approves, then theinformation for the rebate or warranty renewal can be gathered from adatabase and submitted to apply for the renewal or rebate (element 470).Otherwise, the purchaser may be asked if notification should continueuntil the deadline has passed. Then, if additional deadlines areassociated with the products (element 480), the additional deadlines aremonitored (element 455).

One embodiment of the invention is implemented as a program product foruse with a computer system such as, for example, the system 100 shown inFIG. 1. The program(s) of the program product defines functions of theembodiments (including the methods described herein) and can becontained on a variety of signal-bearing media. Illustrativesignal-bearing media include, but are not limited to: (i) informationpermanently stored on non-writable storage media (e.g., read-only memorydevices within a computer such as CD-ROM disks readable by a CD-ROMdrive); (ii) alterable information stored on writable storage media(e.g., hard-disk drive or floppy disks within a diskette drive); and(iii) information conveyed to a computer by a communications medium,such as through a computer or telephone network, including wirelesscommunications. The latter embodiment specifically includes informationdownloaded from the Internet and other networks. Such signal-bearingmedia, when carrying computer-readable instructions that direct thefunctions of the present invention, represent embodiments of the presentinvention.

In general, the routines executed to implement the embodiments of theinvention, may be part of an operating system or a specific application,component, program, module, object, or sequence of instructions. Thecomputer program of the present invention typically is comprised of amultitude of instructions that will be translated by the native computerinto a machine-readable format and hence executable instructions. Also,programs are comprised of variables and data structures that eitherreside locally to the program or are found in memory or on storagedevices. In addition, various programs described hereinafter may beidentified based upon the application for which they are implemented ina specific embodiment of the invention. However, it should beappreciated that any particular program nomenclature that follows is,used merely for convenience, and thus the invention should not belimited to use solely in any specific application identified and/orimplied by such nomenclature.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit ofthis disclosure that the present invention contemplates methods,systems, and media to aggregate, process, and manage productinformation. It is understood that the form of the invention shown anddescribed in the detailed description and the drawings are to be takenmerely as examples. It is intended that the following claims beinterpreted broadly to embrace all the variations of the exampleembodiments disclosed.

1. An apparatus for aggregating an e-commerce transaction, the apparatuscomprising: a receipt processor, responsive to receiving an electronicreceipt, the electronic receipt describing a transaction to purchase aproduct from a merchant by a purchaser, to gather product informationassociated with the transaction based upon the electronic receipt,wherein the receipt processor comprises an information gatherer toretrieve the product information from a group of sources comprising themerchant, a bank associated with the purchaser, a manufacturerassociated with the product, a manufacturer having accessoriesassociated with the product, and a retailer having accessoriesassociated with the product in response to receiving the electronicreceipt; and a packager to package the product information with theelectronic receipt in response to receiving the product information, tocreate an aggregated package to transmit to the purchaser.
 2. Theapparatus of claim 1, further comprising a package transmitter todetermine an email address associated with the purchaser and to transmitthe aggregated package to the email address.
 3. The apparatus of claim1, further comprising a transaction authenticator to certify that fundstransferred from the purchaser to the merchant for the product.
 4. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the receipt processor comprises a receiptparser to parse the electronic receipt to identify the product.
 5. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the receipt processor comprises theinformation gatherer to request the product information from at leastone of the group of sources, the product information comprising dataassociated with the product, from a category of data of a group ofcategories comprising warranty information, rebate information, productregistration information, follow-on order information, depictions of theproduct, specifications, manuals, accessories, links to productinformation, links to manufacturer web sites, links to the merchant'sweb site, and links to the bank's web site.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the receipt processor comprises the information gatherer todetermine a language selected for the product information and gather theproduct information in the selected language.
 7. The apparatus of claim1, wherein the packager stores the electronic receipt and the productinformation in a format that is accessible by a personal financemanager.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the packager packages theproduct information for the product and other products in response toreceipt of the product information.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe receipt processor comprises the information gatherer to retrieve theproduct information for more than one products purchased in thetransaction described by the electronic receipt.
 10. A tangiblemachine-accessible medium containing instructions, which when executedby a machine, cause said machine to perform operations, comprising:receiving, by a transaction aggregator, an electronic receipt from amerchant in response to a transaction between the merchant and thepurchaser, the electronic receipt describing the transaction to purchaseat least a product by the purchaser; gathering, by the transactionaggregator, product information associated with the transaction, whereingathering product information comprises retrieving the productinformation from a group of sources comprising the merchant, a bankassociated with the purchaser, a manufacturer associated with theproduct, a manufacturer having accessories associated with the product,and a retailer having accessories associated with the product inresponse to receiving the electronic receipt; and packaging, by thetransaction aggregator, the product information with the electronicreceipt to create an aggregated package to transmit to the purchaser.11. The machine-accessible medium of claim 10, wherein the operationsfurther comprise transmitting the aggregated package to an email addressassociated with the purchaser.
 12. The machine-accessible medium ofclaim 10, wherein the operations further comprise certifying thetransaction with a certificate of authenticity.
 13. Themachine-accessible medium of claim 10, wherein gathering productinformation comprises determining a language selected for the productinformation and gathering product information in the selected language.14. The machine-accessible medium of claim 10, wherein retrieving theproduct information comprises requesting the product information from atleast one of the group of sources, the product information comprisingdata associated with the product, from a category of data of a group ofcategories comprising warranty information, rebate information, product,registration information, follow-on order information, depictions of theproduct, specifications, manuals, accessories, links to productinformation, links to manufacturer web sites, links to the merchant'sweb site, and links to the bank's web site.
 15. The machine-accessiblemedium of claim 10, wherein packaging the product information comprisesstoring the electronic receipt and the product information in a formatthat is accessible by a personal finance manager.
 16. Themachine-accessible medium of claim 10, wherein receiving the electronicreceipt comprises receiving the electronic receipt, wherein theelectronic receipt describes the transaction to purchase the product andother products.
 17. The machine-accessible medium of claim 16, whereingathering the product information comprises gathering the productinformation for the product and the other products in response toreceiving the electronic receipt.
 18. The machine-accessible medium ofclaim 16, wherein packaging the product information comprises packagingthe product information for the product and the other products inresponse to receiving the product information.